Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Acolyte episode 4.
Summary
The Acolyteepisode 4 delivers another good installment, albeit without reaching the same heights as episode 3’s deep-dive into the Force. Despite the endless controversy surroundingThe Acolyte, I have been a fan of what creator Leslye Headland has presented.Star Wars’High Republic Erais a personal favorite section of the timeline, and I appreciate it when stories in a galaxy far, far away delve into the weirder, philosophical side of their subject matter. With that in mind, this could be whyThe Acolyteepisode 4 is the weakest thus far, though one I still enjoyed overall.
Khofar Makes For A Beautiful Continuation Of The Acolyte’s Impressive Production Design
A big strength of The Acolyte remains its visuals
Beginning with the more positive side ofThe Acolyteepisode 4, I continue to appreciate the show’s production design. Earlier episodes had fantastic settings, costumes, props, and a nice blend of practical and visual effects, and episode 4 is no different. The episode takes place entirely on Khofar, a distant planet whereThe Acolyte’s Wookiee Jedi Kelnaccahas chosen to go into hiding. Khofar’s sweeping, mist-covered forests look fantastic and convey a sense of foreboding thatStar Wars’natural vistas usually do not.
What helps continue the show’s positive production design is the setting. The episode features several tracking, establishing shots of various characters walking across Khofar’s varied foothills and dense forests, which all seem to be shot on location. In an era where the volume of entirely CG environments are commonplace, this was a welcome change.
The Acolyte’s Varied Cast Get More Time To Shine
The Acolyte episode 4’s group adventure gave more characters the spotlight
WhereThe Acolyte’s cast of charactersis concerned, I cannot deny that Lee Jung-jae’s Sol and Amandla Stenberg’s Osha and Mae have been the standouts thus far. That said, episode 4 gives the supporting characters a bit more to do. Dafne Keen’s Jecki Lon gets some nice scenes to bond with Osha, even if their budding friendship could do with even more development. Similarly, Charlie Barnett’s Yord Fandar receives a bigger focus, transcending the lovable, albeit underdeveloped, stickler for Jedi rules fromThe Acolyte’s premiere.
Yord and Osha share a compelling scene, with the former being trusted by the latter to kill Mae if the time comes. Yord then offers a nugget of wisdom, telling Osha that she must face her own fears, giving him more of a sense of character than in previous episodes.Undoubtedly a standout is Bazil, the Jedi’s companion responsible for tracking Kelnacca through Khofar’s dense jungle.
In a show that more often than not feels self-serious and grim, Bazil offered levity in a way that feels inherently likeStar Wars…
Bazil is a George Lucas-esque character, a silly little creature who immediately captures the hearts of viewers while offering comedic relief. In a show that more often than not feels self-serious and grim, Bazil offers levity in a way that feels inherently likeStar Wars. If he only appears in this one episode, it’s safe to say that Bazil has captured my heart in a way the likes of Grogu, Sabine’s Tooka fromAhsoka, andThe Mandalorian’s Anzellans have managed to in recent years.
The Acolyte Episode 4’s Ending Is A Fantastic, Tantalizing Cliffhanger
The Acolyte’s climactic moments make for excellent, tense teases at future battles
Although much ofThe Acolyteepisode 4 left me wanting some forward propulsion plot-wise, I was quickly silenced by the shining jewel of the installment: Its ending. As Mae, the Jedi, Osha, and their allies converge on Kelnacca’s hut, they find the solitary Jedi dead from lightsaber wounds. As Mae’s fear heightens, the dazzling sun of Khofar sets on the horizon and allows darkness, figurative and literal, to step into the fray. The first appearance ofThe Acolyte’s Sith villainis menacing, as the fading light makes way for imposing darkness.
The strong ending of The Acolyte episode 4 alone was enough to rate the episode positively, with its sense of impending dread only heightened by the three-episode mystery and the lighting perfectly conveying Star Wars' light vs. dark themes.
The slow walk toward Osha is terrifying, and the feeling of dread as the masked figure ignites his lightsaber perfectly caps the tension. The trailer shot of the High Republic Jedi lighting their own weapons and being blasted by the Force cutsThe Acolyteepisode 4 to black, marking a brilliant final scene that left me keen for more as I viscerally reacted to the installment ending where it did. When done correctly, cliffhangers are fantastic storytelling tricks, and episode 4’s ending more than stoked my excitement to see the ensuing Sith vs. Jedi confrontation.
The Acolyte Episode 4’s Mystery Elements Are Lacking Compared To Prior Installments
The Acolyte episode 4 sacrifices enticing mystery for a climactic cliffhanger
Despite the cliffhanger ending endlessly working for me, the first two-thirds of the episode did suffer as a result. Whereas other episodes gave answers and questions in equal measure, buildingThe Acolyte’s compelling mystery, episode 4 was more of a plateaued entry. No real answers or questions are given, with the episode instead content to use the mystery of the first three episodes to make its cliffhanger ending more explosive.
The hints and nudges that Qimir is the secret Sith villain are too on the nose as a red herring that I found it hard to invest in them…
While this certainly worked, it does leaveThe Acolyteepisode 4 feeling more like a placeholder than other episodes. I will admit that episode 4 tries to raise more questions, but they are simply too few and too predictably misleading to match the dark hints thatThe Acolyteepisode 3’s climactic fire was more sinister than first believed. Kelnacca’s witch-like symbols in his hut are intriguing enough, but the hints and nudges that Qimir is the secret Sith villain are too on the nose as a red herring that I found it hard to invest in them.
8 Hints That Mae’s Fire Didn’t Kill Everyone In The Acolyte Episode 3
The Acolyte episode 3 centered around Mae’s tragic fire that killed her family, but several hints imply that other dark forces were at work.
Some Character Choices Feel Unearned In The Acolyte Episode 4
The wider character implications felt rushed
The last element that disappointed me inThe Acolyteepisode 4 was the rushed character arcs. Although the further development of Jedi beyond Sol and Osha was welcome,Mae’s development felt unnatural.AfterThe Acolyteepisode 3 outlined her dark tendencies and outright attempt at murdering her sister, her wavering faith in the Sith now that she knows Osha is alive felt unconvincing. Osha being alive does not change Mae’s perspective about the Jedi appearing on Brendok being what tore her family apart. Her switch from vengeful Sith Acolyte to surrendering prisoner felt hastened at best, inconceivable at worst.
Mae’s character change could have been spread out over the entire season to feel more logical from a storytelling perspective.
Similarly, Kelnacca already being dead inThe Acolyteepisode 4 left me with the same hollow feeling as Indara’s untimely demise from episode 1. I’m aware that flashbacks will continue detailing their characters, but the overwhelming promise of Carrie-Anne Moss as an all-knowing Jedi and a Wookiee Force-user has not been capitalized on enough, for my liking. Regardless,The Acolyteepisode 4 was a good installment with a brilliant ending that overcame other issues with the storytelling, resulting in a middling episode that lacked forward plot propulsion but left me continually wanting more.
The Acolyte
Cast
The Acolyte is a television series set in the Star Wars universe at the end of the High Republic Era, where both the Jedi and the Galactic Empire were at the height of their influence. This sci-fi thriller sees a former Padawan reunite with her former Jedi Master as they investigate several crimes - all leading to darkness erupting from beneath the surface and preparing to bring about the end of the High Republic.
